Last month we signed with Marleaux to become their exclusive dealers in Spain. I have known Gerald and Tilman for a few years now, and this looked like the right time for us to start working together. It was not a tough decision: I love their basses and they know it. Every year at the Messe I get to see all kinds of interesting basses, but Marleaux instruments are always at the top of the list.
Among all the noise and craze of the Messe, this beautiful Consat Fretless Edition 5 stood from the rest, even when I heard it from a distance. Marleaux fretted basses are excellent instruments, but their fretless are simply the best, period. Of course they are biult with great cere and attention, using only the best tonewoods available and twin Bartolini pickups, but I was intrigued to learn why they still sounded better than similar basses. Further inspection revealed a clever system to join the neck in a way that no sustain is lost and all the vibrations transmition is kept intact (see ASF picture bellow). Some special routing at the end of the neck seems to further increase the fretless' trademark growl and "mwah".
This bass has a mahogany body and flamed pearwood top. The three piece maple neck sports an impressive Macassar ebony plain fingerboard with some striking red lines.
Marleaux's own 3 band active/passive circuit allows you to musically boost or cut specific well chosen frequencies (40Hz, 500Hz, 8kHz).
To sum up: you've got to hear this bass if you want to know how a fretless bass should sound. Sweet deep tones, strong attack and jumping armonics, mouth watering double stops...it's all here. What are you waiting for?
Just to make things more interesting: this bass comes with a special discount off the price list beacuse it was used at the last Frankfurt Messe. There are no visible signs of wear or use, just a couple of minor blemishes that are had to notice and have no effect on the instrument at all.
Bellow is a pic from the last Show in Frankfurt. The guy playing this bass is Gerald Marleaux, and there's Anton Tilman (partner and cousin) in the last picture.
